Life at FL330

I’m writing this while cruising across the Atlantic.  Things are winding down on the plane in terms of the activity level of the other passengers, but as usual on airplanes, I’m wide-awake.  We had a smooth departure from Atlanta and quickly left the continental United States in our wake.  All of those hurricanes and tropical storms/depressions coming off of Africa have caused us to do some swerving while in the air.  Our in-flight map looks like a three year old who can’t quite color in the lines.

After traveling to Ireland in April and now heading to South Africa on another international flight, I’ve come to the conclusion that international air-travel is much more civilized than the domestic version that so many of us have grown accustom to.  The whole boarding process of an international flight seems more orderly.  Folks aren’t running you over to get on the plane.  Maybe the thought of 18 hours in the air mellows people, I don’t know.  We flew Aer Lingus to Ireland and the service was impeccable.  Despite some less than stellar domestic run-ins, the Delta service to South Africa has been pretty good.  We got a menu for dinner that listed pasta as an option, only to find that they didn’t really have any on this flight.  Given that I had a pecan-crusted chicken salad for lunch, I opted for the beef.  Surprisingly, it wasn’t that bad.  I try to avoid meat/chicken when flying, but going hungry wasn’t an option.

The lovely Boeing 767-400 we’re on has the snazzy new personal in-flight entertainment option installed and I actually have a real AC 120V power outlet at my seat!  It’s powering the Mac Book as I type, I only hope I have it on the way back to the states so I can do some photo editing.  Now if Delta could speed along the process of installing in-flight internet access, I could post real time instead of typing in Word and uploading when I have a connection.

Since my first blog crashed, now might be a good time to give everyone a run down of our activities and itinerary in South Africa.  Our flight lands in Johannesburg at 4:35 p.m. local time (that’s 10:35 EDT, we’ll be 6 hours ahead for those of you keeping score) on Friday the 12^th.  Our friends, the Howes, will meet us at the airport with 2 cars and a trailer.  We’ll load up and begin the 5-hour drive to Madikwe Game Reserve.  Once at the lodge, we have a week of driving and walking safaris scheduled.  I overheard the girls talking about a spa of some sorts, so they will probably partake in some pampering at least one day while we’re there.  Thursday morning, the 18^th, we leave the lodge and head back to J’burg.  Since we’ve been able to show the Howes around the states on their trips over, they’re going to show us around J’burg on Thursday afternoon and Friday.  Being one of the largest cities in all of Africa, and undoubtedly the economic capital, I’m sure that much is in store for us there. 

On Saturday, the 20^th, we head over to Cape Town for a week of fun in the sun.  There are quite a few places to go and things to experience in Cape Town.  High on my list is cage diving with the Great Whites.  Ever since Discovery Channel began doing Shark Week a number of years ago, I’ve always wanted to do a cage-dive with the whites.  We have a recommendation for a company that takes you cage diving in the morning and then whale watching in the afternoon.  Sounds like a winner to me!  Just east of Cape Town you’ll find the heart of South Africa’s winemaking country.  I’m always on the lookout for a good Merlot, Pinot or Cabernet Sav that is reasonably priced.  Hopefully we can score some good finds and even bring some back to share.  If not, I’ll at least get names and perhaps we can convince an importer to import some for us.

After our time in Cape Town, we head back to J’burg to make our flight back to the states.  It’s another marathon, we leave Friday early afternoon local time and get back early Saturday morning.  Our major plan is to not make too many small plans, to just explore the country and experience things as they happen.  It is a vacation after all…